MOSCOW, December 14 (R-Sport) - The Russian Olympic Committee has thrown its weight behind the troubled Katusha cycling team in its bid to regain its place at the sport’s biggest races.
Cycling’s world governing body, the UCI, published a list Monday of 18 teams that had been granted licenses for the 2013 season and therefore eligible for entry in all major races including the Tour de France.
Katusha's application was rejected with no reason yet given, and the team, ranked second in the world and featuring world No. 1 rider Joaquim Rodriguez, has threatened legal action if the decision is not reversed.
“Yes, of course,” Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov said when asked if the team had his organization's support.
“At the moment we can’t understand the reasons why Katusha was stripped of the license.”
Zhukov added he had spoken with Igor Makarov, head of the Russian Cycling Federation, about the issue and that the federation was investigating the decision.
The UCI told R-Sport on Wednesday that the reasoning behind the decision would be explained "shortly," while the president of the European Cycling Union has branded the license refusal "inexplicable", in a letter to UCI president Pat McQuaid obtained by R-Sport via a UCI source.
Without a WorldTour license, Katusha would have to rely on sought-after wildcard entries to major races.
Kastusha said Wednesday its sponsors were standing by the team and general manager Vyacheslav Ekimov told R-Sport on Friday that all of the team’s riders wanted to stay.
Katusha receives funding from Russian state energy giant Gazprom, Russian Technologies, gas company Itera and Vnesheconombank, among others.
